Exemdesign

Warmup thumbnail.

Don't overlook the opportunity your website presents for you to flesh out your brand and tell the world why you do what you do.

"Marketing’s job is never done. It’s about perpetual motion. We must continue to innovate every day."
- Beth Comstock

Do your social media posts do one or more of the following?

ENGAGE – Grab your readers by the “you know whats”! Make them WANT to read your post. Your goal is to get a reaction from at least some of them. Use stories, personal anecdotes, quotes, excerpts and statistics to grab their attention. Ask questions and invite feedback. And uploading an image to your post is a great way to prime the audience for the text.

ENTERTAIN – Make your audience laugh or feel moved with a post that offers a momentary distraction from the seriousness of life. Entertaining posts may not do much for your sales, but they offer the audience a little “pick-me-up” for which many will be grateful. And if you brand your entertainment posts, you’ll get your logo and business name in front of them.

EDUCATE – I am sure you know many things that your audience might find helpful. Surveys show that helpful educational posts are very popular if the information presented is to-the-point and relevant. These posts allow you to show off your expertise and help establish you as an expert.

Remember that you can mix these post types up as well.

Whichever route you go, try to work your business name into your posts. After all, that’s why you are posting.

If you want to see more ideas about creating your own effective social media campaigns, check out the following link:

https://exemdesign.com/social-media/

"Today it’s not about ‘get the traffic’ — it’s about 'get the targeted and relevant traffic.’ "
- Adam Audette

It's all good and well having to deal with difficult clients, but if we flip the script, what kind of client or customer are you?

Be honest.

Post your thoughts in the comments below. I would love to read them.

Your website will not attract visitors on its own. Here are a few tips on getting people to visit your site without doing too much extra work.

1. Try adding your website URL to the end of your social media posts, whether you create them yourself or simply re-post the posts of others.

2. You could also add your website URL to your social media descriptions (the text that appears next to your name and photo). However, unless you can work it into the text naturally, avoid adding it to your comments, as this just looks desperate.

3. Find popular industry blogs and leave comments. Try to work your website URL into the comments you leave. Some blogs have a special place for you to post your website URL so when people click your name displayed in the comments section, they are taken to your website.

4. Make sure your website URL is in your e-mail signature and on your business cards.

Yes, some of these tips may seem obvious, and you most probably do them, but sometimes we overlook the obvious.

If you know of any other online places where you can leave your website URL, feel free to lave them comments.

https://exemdesign.com

"Focus on the core problem your business solves and put out lots of content and enthusiasm and ideas about how to solve that problem." - Laura Fitton

Finally, it's Friday! The weekend is almost upon us.

For many, Saturday and Sunday are just two more work days - perhaps without as many e-mails and instant messages as during the formal work week.

If you are one of these people, I sincerely hope that you make time for friends and family (and for yourself) this weekend.

Take a day to sleep in late, just hang around with loved ones, eat some food you really want to eat, drink a glass of that wine or whisky you've been saving for a "special occasion", take a walk in a park or on the beach. Enjoy. Smile. Breathe deeply.

If you already have a good work-life balance and will be taking one or both days off, good on you.

Have a great weekend everybody!

So your client or customer has just made a request for something you are not obligated to provide (for whatever reason). Or they are trying to rush you because they messed up their project plan. What do you do?

Do you just suck it up and do what they want to keep them happy? After all, they are paying the bill. And if they are happy, they may come back or tell their friends about you and your business.
Here's an article with five reasons the customer IS always right.
https://buff.ly/3NPDQhp

Or do you push back and, depending on what the request is, tell them they will have to pay more or that you just can't do it? After all, if you give an inch, they might take a mile. Or they may start asking for more "favors".

Here's an article with five reasons why the customer IS NOT always right.
https://buff.ly/3Uiw3v6

I guess that most people would say "It depends."

If it's a small ask and the customer is friendly and/or loyal, most people would most probably say ,"Sure, why not?"

But, if the client is arrogant or demanding or they feel the client is trying to manipulate them, then perhaps not.

Ron Kaufman maintains (in this article https://buff.ly/3UnbLAz) that we should try to find a compromise that's win-win for both parties. A good approach, but not practical in many situations.

What do you think? How do you deal with those extra little requests?

Comment below.

Do you maintain a blog on your website?

A blog is not just a place where you talk about what you think and what you know.

Blogs can help your business in many ways, the most important of which are the following:

1. They can help you demonstrate your expertise in your field so that you are seen as a thought leader.

2. They can become a resource for potential clients.

3. If done properly, they can attract free organic website traffic from search engines.

Here is an article I have written to help you write an engaging blog that gets noticed by Google.

https://exemdesign.com/how-to-write-a-blog-post/

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about blog writing (or website design or online marketing). I am happy to help.

https://exemdesign.com

"Clients don’t care about the labor pains; they want to see the baby." - Tim Williams

Looking for the best place to advertise your products or services?

Here are the top places to advertise online with paid promotions.

Google – Still King of the Hill ! If you have not created a free Google Business Profile, it is well worth considering doing. Advertising on Google can be complicated and require specialist knowledge, especially when it comes to keyword research, but it’s a mainstay of most business’ online marketing campaigns. Google advertising apparently has an average conversion rate of 4.4% across all industries, but there are many factors that would affect this.

Google Maps - If you run a local business, remember that you can advertise on Google maps for free.

Bing – Although it’s the second most popular search engine, it pales in comparison to Google. Nonetheless, advertising on Bing gets you exposure on many Microsoft platforms and the conversion rate is reportedly somewhere around 2.6%. Importantly, advertising on Bing is also cheaper than on Google.

Yelp – 90 million users visit Yelp every day, so if your business lends itself to having reviews written about it, this is definitely a place to be seen.

TikTok – The new kid on the block, advertising on TikTok, seems to be something worth looking at. The nature of the platform makes advertising not as intrusive, or so it is reported. However, TikTok viewership is currently young and so your offering needs to target that demographic.

Facebook – Best for B2C advertising with an easily definable target market. 2 billion users daily with 15% using Facebook to search for and buy products. And it has 9.2% conversion rate on average (according to Hubspot).

Instagram – with about 500 million daily users, 70% of shopping enthusiasts report having done product research on Instagram. Should appeal to B2C businesses that can produce high-quality, appealing visual content.

YouTube – 83% of marketers are planning to advertise to YouTube’s 2 billion daily users, but unless you have a good grasp on who your target market is and you have deep pockets, this may be one to pass on for paid advertising. That said, building your own channel and building a following can be a good way to advertise to a captive market for “free”.

LinkedIn – LinkedIn is best for high-ticket items as the advertising costs are higher than many alternatives. Your product or service would also have to appeal to the kind of person who spends time on LinkedIn.

Sources:
https://buff.ly/2WDqUl9
https://buff.ly/3Vw13IW
https://buff.ly/3SdDemj

You'd think that this was a joke - but it's not. If you don't believe me, check out this link (New York Times).
https://buff.ly/3FpQfGK

I do equally creative, attention grabbing work (that won't go off like a banana would) for a tiny fraction of what people paid for this "art". Get in touch if you want a new or refreshed website.
https://exemdesign.com

Could it be time to take your small or medium business to the next level with a new website, or a facelift of your current one?

Here’s a link to the kind of work I do,
https://buff.ly/3U88DIp

Even if you are just thinking about perhaps getting a new website built for you, feel free to get in touch with me on this platform or at https://buff.ly/3yBpTgE. I will be happy to tell you what it will cost, what is involved, how long it will take and how I can help you turn your website into an online marketing machine.

And if you have any questions about website design or online marketing, I will be happy to answer them. Don’t worry, I won’t ask for your e-mail address or pester you for business afterwards – promise. I genuinely just want to help.

https://buff.ly/3ywyK3k

Your website should grow, change, evolve, and improve over time.

It should not stay static.

A website is not something that should be designed, built and then abandoned to “do its thing”.

To get the most out of it, your website should be expanded with additional pages, trimmed of superfluous pages that get no traffic and enhanced with additional content and media.

It’s a good idea to do a website audit once a year or so, looking at which pages get little or no traffic so they can be removed, thinking about tools and features you can add according to visitor behavior or feedback, and sprucing up the branded areas to better reflect your business’ current direction or focus.

A simple way to add content is to set up a simple blog or news page. This not only makes your website more of a resource, but it also helps build you up as an authority in your field, and can result in organic traffic being drawn to your website.

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about website design, website content or online marketing. I am happy to help.

https://exemdesign.com

"Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content marketing is showing the world you are one." - Robert Rose

Top 3 online places to find free, high-quality images for your articles and posts.

High-quality images and videos make your blog and social posts more appealing and help your reader understand what your posts are about.

However, high-quality images can be expensive to use when paying for licensed photos and videos.

Luckily, several free resources have emerged in the past few years that allow you to use top quality photographs in your posts.

My 3 top picks are:

1. https://buff.ly/3oCLujk

2. https://buff.ly/3Tezi5Y

3. https://buff.ly/1MV5Ya7

If you do use any images from these sites, try to acknowledge the talented photographers that allowed you to use their work for free.

The photos on these websites can be quite large, so I would suggest resizing them for your blog of social media post. You can use any image software to do this, or you can use this handy online tool:

https://buff.ly/2BgswHs

Upload your image(s) and resize them to around 1000 pixels in width (make sure the “maintain aspect ratio” box is checked or else the image will get “squashed”).

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about website design, website content or online marketing.

Answer from yesterday's riddle: before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Answer: Mt. Everest.

Just because it hadn't been discovered, doesn't mean it wasn't still the highest mountain in the world.

Riddle me this ... before Mt. Everest was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the world?

Put your answer in the comments.

Answer tomorrow.

Could it be time to take your small or medium business to the next level with a new website, or a facelift of your current one?

Here's an example of the kind of work I do,
https://exemdesign.com/website-business-coach/

Even if you are just thinking about perhaps getting a new website built for you, feel free to get in touch with me on this platform or at https://exemdesign.com/quote/. I will be happy to tell you what it will cost, what is involved, how long it will take and how I can help you turn your website into an online marketing machine.

And if you have any questions about website design or online marketing, I will be happy to answer them. Don’t worry, I won’t ask for your e-mail address or pester you for business afterwards – promise. I genuinely just want to help.

When having your business website built, remember who it is being built for?

While you need to be proud of your website and feel as though it reflects your business and your brand, remember that the person you are ultimately building your website for is your VISITOR.

It often happens that website owners do things on their websites to stroke their egos instead of what research shows their visitors react to.

For example, they may choose colors they like rather than colors that work, they may talk about themselves instead of talking about helping their potential clients, they may make layout and design decisions based on their preferences instead on what has been shown to be effective, and more.

My aim is not to run down website owners. My aim is to help them get the most out of their websites.

If you want to see ROI from your website, shift your focus to your visitor.

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about website design, website content or online marketing. I am happy to help.

https://exemdesign.com

"Ignoring online marketing is like opening a business but not telling anyone. " - Anonymous

7 essential precautions when it comes to designing your website:

1. Own your domain. Your domain name is one of your most valuable online assets, so be sure you are registered as the owner.

2. Manage your own hosting. Likewise, make sure you are in control of your hosting account once the site is launched.

3. Own your assets (images & logo files). Make sure that you are registered as the licensee of any purchased images, videos or illustrations used on your website.

4. Make sure you have a contract with your designer. This should set out the responsibilities of both parties, define deliverables and due dates, and lay out dispute resolution pathways and remedies.

5. Back up your site daily yourself even if your hosting company says they do it for you. This is especially important if you sell anything through your website or a lot of content is added regularly. Mistakes happen, and losing your website can be catastrophic for your business.

6. Be self-reliant. Be able to add content and make changes to your site by yourself. You should also know how to contact your hosting company's support department to ask for assistance in making technical changes.

7. Make sure your designer provides a design guide for your website containing fonts, colors, styles etc. This will ensure consistency of style should you want to extend your website.

To see the full article with more precautions to take when having a website built for you, visit https://buff.ly/3TcBcE4

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about website design, website content or online marketing.

Here's the answer to yesterday's little blurred image game. I hope you guessed it correctly.

Can you guess what is in this blurred image?

Clue: It's a hot gas bag that will take you sky-high.

I hope that didn't give it away ;)

Could it be time to take your small or medium business to the next level with a new website, or a facelift of your current one?

Even if you are just thinking about perhaps getting a new website built for you, feel free to get in touch with me on this platform or at https://exemdesign.com/quote/. I will be happy to tell you what it will cost, what is involved, how long it will take and how I can help you turn your website into an online marketing machine.

And if you have any questions about website design or online marketing, I will be happy to answer them. Don’t worry, I won’t ask for your e-mail address or pester you for business afterwards – promise. I genuinely just want to help.

https://exemdesign.com/website-interior-design/

Does your website do these three things?

1. make a good first impression. This is why having a well-designed website is crucial. Great design engages the visitor and invites them to want to find out more.

2. Build trust in your business. The text on your website should not only grab the visitor’s attention but - more importantly – should demonstrate that you are trustworthy enough for them to take a chance on dealing with you.

3. Convince your visitors to take action. The entire point of your website is to get your visitors to take action. They could do this by contacting you, subscribing to your newsletter, downloading something, getting a quote or buying from you.

Everything you do on your website should be focused on getting every visitor to this third step.

The important thing to remember is that if your website hasn’t made a good first impression, you won’t have the chance to build trust, and if you don’t build trust, the visitor will not take any action on your site and will leave.

So re-look at your website and ask yourself if it does all three of these things.

Feel free to CONTACT ME if you have questions about website design, website content or online marketing. I am happy to help.

https://buff.ly/3ywyK3k

"Content Marketing is a commitment, not a campaign. " - Jon Buscall